POV Heino Karttunen

A merchant sailor for the country of the archipelago nation of Iporanga, located within the Sänguen continent, Heino was currently tasked with bringing a batch of products produced and found within his nation to buyers within the Togiak continent.

But after being sucked into a suddenly appearing storm, he had lost one merchant vessel and two escort vessels and ended up within Kugluk Plateau. At least there was another ship anchored far enough away from the edge where the storms did not touch.

As they sailed towards the ship, Heino hoped that they would be willing to at least help.

They got closer and closer until they were at a decent yelling distance.

Before he could even yell, a human male on the ship was already yelling at him.

"Who are you!" Screamed out a male dressed like a merchant but surrounded by what looked like adventurers and an exasperated woman.

"We are the Royal Company of the Golden Claws, a merchant ship representing the interests of the Abitibi Kingdom of the Okak Continent."

His kingdom occupied five larger islands comprising hundreds of thousands of various-sized islands that made up the Okak Continent. It really was only called a continent because of how many islands that are very close together that it is called a continent.

Heino knew that when he told others that he was a royal company, he had to watch their expressions and micro-expressions because one never knows when he is in the company of enemies of the state. Or, at the very least, do not like the Abitibi Kingdom.

And from what he saw, the merchants were neutral to what he said.

"You look like you took some damage," said the exasperated woman.

That immediately made Heino tense. If they were to attack and board the ship, there wouldn't be much that he or his crew and escorts could do due to the damage.

"Ya, the storm battered us really good. We lost three ships in that storm," his first mate Bijáš responded.

"We were hoping you might be able to provide some assistance," said Heino. "We, of course, are willing to pay for that assistance."

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"Well, you're in luck! We can definitely help, especially if you're willing to trade some of the things within your merchant's vessels," said the merchant male who eyed his merchant's vessels.

It did not surprise Heino that he asked this question, and it was not like he was not unwilling to part with some of his goods.

After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, he called back to the man. "You have a deal."

"Great! My name is Alexis, and this is Mareian; why don't you anchor your ships a bit closer."

It was no problem for Heino to give a few of the common products that he was transporting in large groups in payment for Alexis's services.

"Bye the way, my name is Heino, and this is my first mate Bijáš. We thank you for your help." With that, he gave a short bow to Alexis before walking towards his crew to deliver his orders.

"Oh, you do know that we are currently in decently close proximity to a dungeon?"

As soon as Alexis said this, he froze.

POV The Dungeon Core

The child started working on its base aspects with their tenth floor already dug out.

They wanted to recreate the ocean environment somewhat for this. And for that to work, they didn't want any islands taking up space within the floor. But that did not mean that they did not want a non-aquatic part of the floor.

They built a small tunnel from the ninth floor to the tenth, and as water flowed into the room, they started thinking about how to do this.

The water filled the room centimetre by centimetre and metre by metre as the child thought about how to do this.

Once the water reached the 13-metre high mark, they cut the flow and shifted the tunnel into a more permanent position. As they were doing this, an idea popped into their head.

Quickly, they started working on their own idea and chose one of their floating vines. Then, using their own mana, the child made the floating vine a lot bigger and stronger and had more of a tolerance for holding weight.

Taking small pieces of pressurized ice, the child started weaving and attaching the more robust floating vines. Soon enough, the vines and ice became one, floating on top of the water, creating a small living island about ten metres wide and only a metre thick.

As the living island floated about, the child quickly got to work mimicking the open ocean as best as they could.

They placed a layer of seaweed and kelp along the bottom of the floor, allowing it to carpet the floor and grow to around three metres in height.

Placing all of their larger species of fish, sharks, squids, crabs, mollusks, jellyfishes, eels, and anemone species, the floor soon became alive in activity as they settled into their new home and started spawning.

Turning back to their living island, the child thought of something.

What if I can make the island itself a living trap? Pondered the child.

Since the floor had no floor, any invaders would have to swim. And for any adventurers or invaders that were land-dwelling, they would most likely use the island.

And if they were to trap the island, then that would be even better.

Looking at the ice and vines, the child noticed that there were a lot more vines than ice. Then, an idea slowly began forming in the child's mind.

Ever since they have gained flora and fauna, they have been able to impact their behaviour in some ways through their mana.

Using the same process that they have used many times in impacting the living beings within their dungeon's behaviour, the child made it so that in some spots around the island, if enough weight is applied, the vine will quickly retract, leaving a 25 by 25-centimetre hole.

As soon as they finished, a blue screen popped up.

You have made a new trap.

Please name and register this trap to your dungeon.

Seeing how the vines retract once enough weight is on them, the child called it the "retracting vine."

"Retracting Vine" has now been registered within your dungeon.